This invention relates to electronic ignition controllers for internal combustion engines of automotive-type vehicles and, more particularly, to a low-cost, reliable electronic ignition controller, which is triggerable from a breakerless or velocity-insensitive Hall Effect pickup Device and is designed for use with a standard-type automotive ignition coil in a ballast-resistorless, inductive-type ignition system.
Prior forms of ignition controllers exhibiting some of the above characteristics are represented by U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,705,988; 3,861,370; 3,875,920 and 3,906,920, none of which, however, makes any provision for protection of the ignition coil from damage due to excessive current dissipation at low speed engine operation and/or during stalled engine or delayed starting conditions.
The invention seeks to avoid the above deficiencies in automotive vehicle-type ignition systems, which do not employ a ballast resistor, and seeks in other ways to provide a simple, reliable and low cost electronic ignition controller